Unspoken Promise
by psyche752
Summary: A conclusion to the Season 1 finale, this story follows the episode arc to a different, CC-based conclusion. Anyone who felt that the real ending was just plain wrong may find happiness here.


A/N: My first piece of C/C slushiness, but they're so cute I couldn't help it! Please R and R so the next one can be better ***  
Unspoken promise  
  
Clark stood outside Chloe's front door nervously. His hand hesitated centimetres from knocking. It was pretty late. He had returned to the school after leaving Lana sleeping peacefully in the hospital and checking on his parents, but had found it deserted; limp decorations the only evidence of the dance. He'd come instead to her house but now he was too afraid to go in.  
  
He'd promised her the night of her dreams and instead he'd acted out her nightmare. She'd told him that she dreaded the thought of being abandoned and that was exactly what he'd done. Well, not exactly he thought defensively, but it was all Chloe would see because it was all he could let her see.  
  
They'd been about to kiss, Clark reflected sadly. She had looked beautiful. That was over now. He needed to explain, he needed her to forgive him and he needed someone to talk to.  
  
He knocked firmly at the door.  
  
A few seconds. Nothing. Then Clark heard footsteps but looking through the door he was disappointed to see a male skeleton approaching.  
  
Mr Sullivan opened the door, wrapped in a terry dressing gown and grey slippers. His face looked weary.  
  
"Clark" he said "You alright son? How are your folks?"  
  
"They're fine Mr Sullivan, the tornado bypassed the farm." he hesitated "Is Chloe here?"  
  
"She's here." He said.  
  
Clark paused. "Do you think I could go up and see her."  
  
Mr Sullivan looked at him levelly. "Clark, I don't expect to see my daughter come back alone and in tears from dates. Now I know your parents well so I'm only gonna say this once, I think you'd better leave."  
  
"But Mr Sullivan, I-"  
  
"It's okay Dad" came Chloe's voice. Peering past the doorway, Clark saw her at the top of the stairs, head wrapped in a towel, wearing striped pyjamas.  
  
Reluctantly Mr Sullivan moved aside to let Clark enter. He did so and walked slowly up the stairs to greet her. Four steps below the landing he was level with her eyeline, as she stood defensively, arms crossed, waiting for him.  
  
They stared at each other for a few seconds, then Chloe took a step back and walked silently to her room. He followed mutely.  
  
She sat cross legged on her bed, a stuffed animal in her lap and waited, absently playing with its ear.  
  
He stood awkwardly in the doorway. "Chloe I-"  
  
"Don't say you're sorry Clark."  
  
She looked drawn and pale, he noticed. Her eyes were red-rimmed and sore. She had a single strand of blond hair plastered wetly to her face, twisted down her neck. She looked defenseless, young and vulnerable. Because of him.  
  
Chloe's voice broke in to his reverie. "Is Lana okay? I called the hospital but nobody knew anything - the place is in chaos."  
  
"She's got some cuts and bruises" he said slowly "but the doctors think she should be okay."  
  
"That's good. Now please, go away."  
  
"Chloe!" he said, hurt.  
  
"No Clark. You've hurt me enough for one day. I don't think I can take any more. What were you thinking?"  
  
He opened his mouth to reply and she rushed on, cutting him off "No, don't answer that, I don't want to know."  
  
"I had to help Lana." Clark said softly, moving to the edge of her bed and perching on the edge. She shuffled backwards, pressing herself against the bedhead, drawing her knees up to her chest.  
  
"By doing what exactly Clark? By rights you should be dead by now. Do you know how that made me feel?" She smiled mirthlessly "God, you just rush out on me and leave me there alone thinking you were dead. While all the other couples were making their way home together, I was left sitting on that stage by myself, hoping you'd be alright. I stayed until the Principal made me leave!" Her voice was choked with emotion, her eyes damp.  
  
"Choe, I'm-"  
  
"No!" she shouted, bringing her hands to her ears. "Unless the next thing you say is an explanation instead of an apology, all you're gonna do is piss me off even more."  
  
"I can't explain It Chloe, I wish I could."  
  
Choe looked at him sadly.  
  
"Then how about you explain this" she said. Reaching over to her bedside table, she opened a small box. Inside, a chunk of Kryptonite began its sinister green throbbing.  
  
Clark winced and tried to back away as the blood started to boil in his veins. He gasped "What?" and fell on his back to the floor.  
  
"Welcome to my world Clark" Chloe said bitterly. Closing the box she tossed a manila folder to him as he lay recovering. Sliding from the folder, photos of the space ship littered the floor.  
  
Clark lay utterly confused. "How? When? What-"  
  
"All excellent investigative questions Clark" she said venomously. "You must think I'm stupid as well as untrustworthy. What the hell are you?"  
  
"Chloe, please calm down." He said weakly. "It's just me."  
  
"I clearly don't know you at all" she gasped and a single tear overflowed and ran slowly down her cheek.  
  
"How did you know all this?" Clark asked, his voice cracked.  
  
"I didn't know anything for sure until just now. Then, last night I followed you out of the hall and saw a Clark-shaped blur disappear over the hills.  
  
I'm a journalist Clark, you think I wouldn't notice all the weird stuff around you!"  
  
"Why didn't you say anything before?"  
  
She exhaled sharply, bitterly. "Because, fool that I am, I kept hoping, believing that one day you'd trust me enough to tell me yourself."  
  
He was silent, eyes cast down.  
  
"Yeah well" she said, shrugging sadly "we all know how that turned out."  
  
Clark was reeling. He couldn't lie his way out of this situation. He'd expected Chloe to be angry but this?  
  
"Hey" he said, sitting up, "don't get all high-and-mighty with me." He picked up one of the photos and threw it across the room. "It seems to me like you've been doing your share of lying too."  
  
Her look was resigned. "You just don't get it do you Clark? This wasn't an investigation into you! This is stuff that turned up while I was looking into other things and which I have sat on until now because I care so damn much about you! Yes I've lied, but to protect you, lies which I might add, would not have been necessary if you'd been straight with me from the beginning."  
  
"I can't talk about this now." Clark said, getting to his feet.  
  
"Fine, run away" Chloe sobbed after him.  
  
He ran down the stairs with her cries echoing behind him.  
  
***  
  
"Chloe knows about you." repeated his mother slowly.  
  
"She had pictures of the space-ship and she knows about the meteor rocks." Said Clark.  
  
"How?" said his father.  
  
Clark smiled wryly. "She's Choe" he said half-ruefully, half-admiringly.  
  
"and what does she plan to do with this information."  
  
"Nothing" he said, "At least I think nothing. We didn't really discuss anything but if she had plans to publish she would have done it before now."  
  
"Clark" said Jonathan seriously, "has she ever been this mad at you before now?"  
  
"She wouldn't do anything like that Dad" Clark protested. "I know her. She's upset right now but I know I can trust her."  
  
"If you're suggesting that you fill in the blanks for our Miss Sullivan" said Jonathan "I think you're way off base."  
  
"Dad she already knows the worst of it. By keeping her in the dark I'll just make this a challenge.and she loves those" he smiled. "Besides" he said, his face becoming serious once more "I owe her the truth. I.I want to tell her the truth."  
  
"I hope you're right about her son."  
  
"I am, I know it."  
  
***  
  
Clark sat alone in his loft. He stared aimlessly out of the window, watching the stars, lost in his own thoughts.  
  
Chloe knew. Chloe had known about him for a long time. She didn't seem to have drawn any conclusions about his origins though, that was one of the things that he loved most about her. She would consider any weird theory but she always kept an open mind until conclusions were certain.  
  
She knew that there was something weird about him and yet she'd agreed to go to the dance with him. She still cared about him even though he was lying to her over and over again.  
  
What would he say to her now? Would it be too late? The problem was, he acknowledged to himself, he couldn't find a way to tell her the truth without her thinking that it was only through desperation.  
  
"Clark"  
  
Clark looked up to see Lex climbing the stairs up to the loft.  
  
"Lex" he said, happily "You're alright!"  
  
Lex's face seemed grave and Clark's smile died "What's the matter?"  
  
"It's my Dad" said Lex "he got trapped under some rubble. He's in the hospital now but the doctors aren't sure about his chances."  
  
"Lex, I'm so sorry" said Clark earnestly "is there anything I can do to help?"  
  
"Not now" he said "but thanks. I just came to check on you and your folks."  
  
"We're fine"  
  
"But something's wrong isn't it?" said Lex, his eyes narrowing as he took in Clark's  
  
fraught appearance.  
  
"I left Chloe at the dance when I heard about the tornadoes" Clark explained.  
  
"Ah" said Lex, nodding his head lightly "but there's more to it than that isn't there? I'm guessing a certain Miss Lang might have had something to do with it."  
  
"Its not what you think" said Clark "I had to help her, I promised Whitney that I would keep an eye on her!"  
  
"And the fact that you're head over heels for the lovely lady has nothing to do with it?" said Lex with false sincerity.  
  
Clark stood up from the couch, fists clenched. "That's not true" he seethed as he walked to the window.  
  
"Woah there Clark" Lex said, holding his hands up in surrender and walking over to join him.  
  
"I'm sorry" he said, turning his intense blue gaze on his friend. "It's just, people keep pushing me toward Lana, even Chloe, but I'm not sure that's what I want any more."  
  
"It's a decision only you can make" said Lex, clasping a comradely hand on Clark's shoulder.  
  
"I know" said Clark glumly "but what if Chloe never speaks to me again."  
  
"You won't know until you try."  
  
***  
  
The next day was Sunday. Clark was standing in Chloe's front yard. He self- consciously straightened the collar of his denim jacket, as he strode to the front door.  
  
Just as he arrived at the door, miraculously it opened and Chloe strode out. She was dressed in a bright pink skirt and white vest, her hair was gleaming and her lips shone the same bright fuscia as her skirt. She looked fantastic. Her face fell as she saw him.  
  
"Clark" she said curtly.  
  
"Chloe, I'm sorry about yesterday, about everything and-" he said rushing on so she couldn't interrupt him "I know that you don't need to hear this but I need to say it, I need to explain."  
  
Her expression was still icy. "I'm going to see Lana. I'm surprised you're not there yourself."  
  
"Chloe please" he begged, his eyes wide and pleading.  
  
"Fine" she said, sitting where she stood, resting on her front step.  
  
"Here?" he questioned.  
  
"Here"  
  
"Okay. Look Chloe. You think you know something about me and you're right. I know you better than to have thought you wouldn't figure it out. There are things about me that I have kept hidden from you, not because I wanted to but because I thought it was necessary."  
  
Her face was inscrutable but she leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands. He took this as a sign of encouragement.  
  
"My parents found me, after the meteor shower. They-" he hesitated ".they also found the ship that brought me here."  
  
"You're saying you're some kind of alien." Said Chloe matter-of-factly.  
  
Clark was slightly taken aback. "Well, yeah." He confirmed.  
  
She looked at him, took in every feature that she knew so well. "Fine. Was that all? I need to get to the hospital now."  
  
She stood up and started to walk past him. He put a hand on her arm to stop her and she snatched it away abruptly.  
  
"You think that's enough don't you Clark? Share something that I confronted you with and everything's okay? It's not okay Clark. I can't keep doing this. I can't keep having my heart ripped out of my chest and cast still- beating at my feet."  
  
Clark smiled "Don't you think you're being a little melodramatic Chlo?"  
  
She whirled on him, her eyes ablaze with rage "The fact that you would even ask that shows you don't know me at all!"  
  
"Chloe" he called after her, as she strode away "CHLOE!"  
  
***  
  
"Hey, how're you feeling?" asked Chloe softly, as she peeked around the corner of Lana's hospital room door.  
  
"I'm okay" she said, sounding slightly incredulous.  
  
"Don't be modest" joked Chloe "I've heard you referred to as a 'Miracle' in the hallway outside."  
  
Lana laughed. "I don't know that I'd go that far" she smiled. "I was lucky I guess, lucky that Clark found me in time."  
  
"Yeah I heard about that." Said Chloe nonchalantly.  
  
"I don't know how he does it" Lana said, smiling ruefully "but he always manages to be there when you need him."  
  
"Sure does" smiled Chloe with gritted teeth, "So, changing the subject-"  
  
"Chloe" interrupted Lana "I'm sorry".  
  
"What could you possibly have to feel sorry about" rebuked Chloe, shaking her head so that golden strands swirled wildly about her face.  
  
Lana sat up straighter in the hospital bed and reached for Chloe's hand. "I'm sorry I ruined your date." She made and held eye contact. "I know it was important to you and to Clark."  
  
Chloe waved her other hand dismissively. "Clark and I are just friends." She said, as every word bit fiercely into her. "Besides, by my reckoning, this makes us even! One failed date each" she laughed, but tears filled her eyes nonetheless.  
  
"Oh Chloe" said Lana sympathetically.  
  
"No" said Chloe, blinking back tears "No, I'm fine. It just wasn't meant to be."  
  
"You don't mean that."  
  
"I do" she said, through the lump in her throat.  
  
"Chloe, Clark saved my life. You know he has this need to help people. He can't help himself".  
  
"I know, I know."  
  
"It doesn't reflect upon how much he cares for you."  
  
"It's just.I just wish it wasn't always this hard."  
  
Lana smiled. "Nell always says that you can measure the depth of love by the depth of suffering."  
  
"That's great, unless you're the one suffering."  
  
"Chloe", Lana seemed shocked "You know that Clark is suffering too right. He hates that he hurt you."  
  
"Lana.I'm sorry, I feel kinda weird talking about this with you-"  
  
"Go on"  
  
"I know he always abandons me with the best of intentions but" Chloe grimaced "that almost makes it worse. It's like, on top of being mad at him I have to feel guilty about being mad at him you know?"  
  
"Maybe the two should cancel each other out?" suggested Lana lightly "I mean, maybe I'm biased but Clark saved my life last night, I kinda owe him."  
  
Chloe looked at her pensively for a long moment. "Anyway," she said "I'm here to see you." Reaching into her purse, she pulled out cookies; "I remember the jello nightmare" and a deck of cards; "Time flies when you're having fun" she joked wryly.  
  
***  
  
On the drive back from the hospital, Chloe had a lot to think about. So Clark was an alien. That was something that she had thought about before while looking over the evidence she'd amassed. His occasional vulnerability had led her to the only common denominator of the meteor rocks. She wasn't worried about where he came from. She was worried about where he was going. More specifically, she was petrified that he would leave her and go after someone else, someone with raven hair and the initials "LL". In the back of her mind, Chloe knew the reason that she was so keen to stay away from Clark had little to do with him running out on her to save the day, dammit she loved that about him. She was scared that one day he wouldn't come back. Whether being swept away by a tornado or by another woman, she couldn't bear to lose him altogether. This way, this fighting and squabbling, she could keep him and yet, since he wasn't really hers, she didn't need to be afraid.  
  
Cursing, she slammed a fist against the steering wheel. Glancing briefly in the rear view mirror, she scanned the deserted leaf-strewn road behind her and pulled the car over to the curb. Pulling on the hand brake, she sighed and slumped in the seat. She ran one hand through her hair in frustration, tangling her fingers in the strands and resting her elbow on the open window.  
  
Did she want to do this?  
  
Every time she thought about letting down her defences, her heart started to race and she ran short of air. Even at the dance, she'd known that something was coming. A breaking point. The elaborate hair, the fancy dress and the strange surroundings had marked out that evening as an aberration, an exception. It was because of this that she had been able to cope. What would happen if that kind of let-down happened in everyday life?  
  
Chloe caught herself for a minute and actually laughed aloud. Clark had just told her he was an alien and she was worried about him leaving her. Priorities Chloe, she chided herself. He must have found it really difficult, she mused, to lie for so long. Clark Kent was the original straight and narrow. He only abandoned her when he thought that he could help someone.  
  
She was going around in circles. The only way to resolve this problem was to talk it over with Clark.  
  
With that, she indicated and pulled out on to the road.  
  
She didn't see the car until the crunch of metal alerted her. She felt a shock of pain in her legs and then everything went black. ***  
  
Clark was waiting outside Lana's room, a rapidly wilting collection of flowers clutched in his hands. She was asleep, the doctors had told him, but she was going to be fine. He allowed himself a moment's relief that he'd been able to get to her in time.  
  
As he waited, his mind turned invariably back to Chloe. How was she dealing with his news. She hadn't seemed that surprised, he thought, and a wry smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. He thought of her open-minded spitfire ways and a glow of warmth filled him.  
  
Maybe it was because he was already thinking about her that his super- sensitive hearing picked up a mention of her name over the hospital dispatches. When he heard the words 'auto accident' his heart turned over. Any passer-by would think that he had vanished as he sped away to find her, his collection of flowers still floating to the floor long after he had left the vicinity.  
  
The ambulance was unloading her in the hospital bay as he arrived. She looked white as chalk, smears of blood across her face which was already obscured by an oxygen mask.  
  
Hospital staff swarmed around her and Clark tried to push his way through.  
  
"Stand back son" one barked at him.  
  
A series of foreign sounding medical instructions filled the air as she was rushed away. Clark heard a request to prepare the O.R and he ran up to one of the ambulance-men.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Accident." He said tersely. "Other guy's ok, he had one of those big cars. Reckon he was going to fast but she didn't look either."  
  
"Will she be alright?" Clark asked desperately.  
  
"Dunno son. The doctors will do all they can."  
  
Clark turned and ran inside. He followed the gurney until three nurses held him back. He watched powerlessly as she disappeared from his sight.  
  
***  
  
The waiting was a nightmare. No one had been able to get in touch with Mr Sullivan so Clark waited by himself until his parents arrived.  
  
Chloe had been in theatre for two hours now. Clark was pacing up and down. His mother and father exchanged glances and tried to offer supportive words but Clark wasn't listening.  
  
Eventually the surgeon reappeared.  
  
"She lost a lot of blood and we've had to remove her spleen. We'll have to wait until she wakes up to measure the extent of damage to her spine. She's got a few broken bones and a lot of cuts that look worse than they are. It's a miracle it wasn't even worse.  
  
"But she will wake up." Clark said urgently.  
  
"Her chances are good but we'll need to wait and see" said the doctor, as his pager went off again.  
  
"I hate this hospital" raged Clark, slamming a fist into the wall. The plaster yielded like polystyrene and he guiltily removed his hand.  
  
***  
  
She did wake up, hours later, and Clark was by her side.  
  
Her eyelids fluttered open and his breath caught to see it.  
  
"Clark?" she said weakly.  
  
"Yes it's me Chlo" he said, reaching for her hand.  
  
"The...the other driver?" she whispered through cracked lips.  
  
"He's fine Chloe." Clark reassured her and her eyes filled with tears.  
  
"I'm so stupid" she said.  
  
"It's okay Chloe." He offered her a glass of water and she took a tentative sip.  
  
He smoothed the hair off her forehead and said softly "I thought that I was going to lose you." She could see tears shining in his eyes.  
  
The words hit her with considerable force. It was more than just her heart on the line, she recognized. They were both taking a risk.  
  
"I thought that I was going to lose you" she replied.  
  
Their gaze was meaningful.  
  
"I thought I had a choice." She whispered. "I thought I could decide whether I wanted to love you or not." Her lips curved into a smile. "I guess I was wrong."  
  
"I love you Chloe" he said.  
  
"Now you're just saying that 'cause I've had a near-death experience!"  
  
His face fell, but she continued.  
  
"Don't let that become a habit!" she teased, tightening her grip on his hand.  
  
Just then Mr Sullivan burst into the room and gathering Chloe into a hug. She maintained eye contact with Clark over her father's shoulder and when he nodded towards the door she smiled softly with the unspoken promise of later.  
  
Later, tomorrow and the future.  
  
THE END 


End file.
